William E. Bentley is the Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Professor of Engineering and founding Chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. He is also appointed in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park and the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research. Dr. Bentley received his undergraduate (BS, '82) and Master of Engineering degrees ('83) from Cornell University and his Ph.D. ('89) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, all in chemical engineering. At Maryland since 1989, Dr. Bentley has focused his research on the development of molecular tools that facilitate the expression of biologically active proteins, having authored over 200 related archival publications. Recent interests are on deciphering and manipulating signal transduction pathways, including those of bacterial communication networks, for altering cell phenotype. He has served on advisory committees and panels for the NIH, NSF, DOD, DOE, USDA, and several state agencies. He has mentored over 25 Ph.D.s, some of whom are academics at: Cornell (x2), University of Colorado, Clemson, University of Connecticut, Tufts, Postech (Korea), and Tsing-Hua (Taiwan). He co-founded a protein manufacturing company, Chesapeake PERL, based on insect larvae as mini bioreactors. Dr. Bentley is a Fellow of the AAAS and AIMBE and is an elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology.